


Secretly They're Saviors

by Perilous_Grey



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Slash, if you so desire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:07:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perilous_Grey/pseuds/Perilous_Grey
Summary: Garreg Mach in autumn had always been a beautiful sight during her short time at the Academy for all that the hallowed halls had masked an unseemly darkness. A darkness she had prayed to, took guidance from, and fervently believed in when her own inner demons were all she could hear.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund & Edelgard von Hresvelg, Marianne von Edmund/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Secretly They're Saviors

**Author's Note:**

  * For [echoslam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoslam/gifts).



> Fill for the Trick or Treat Exchange 2020 for the prompt of Marianne von Edmund of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I hope you enjoy echoslam!

Marianne tugged the ends of her lilac shawl closer, the wind whistling through the ruins chilled with the promise of coming winter, boots crunching on stone steps blanketed in a verdant field of orange, red, and yellow leaves. 

Garreg Mach in autumn had always been a beautiful sight during her short time at the Academy for all that the hallowed halls had masked an unseemly darkness. A darkness she had prayed to, took guidance from, and fervently believed in when her own inner demons were all she could hear.

Marianne shivered. As if privy to her thoughts, a sudden gust of frigid wind tore through the crumbled remains, mere steps from the church’s interior. 

Darkness greeted her.

She paused for a single moment, just long enough to square her shoulders, fingers brushing reassuringly across the pommel of the ancient relic strapped to her waist, and stepped forward. A heavy gloom swamped the once pristine room, light surprisingly scarce for the vestiges of late afternoon sunlight warming her back, the many windows lining the upper walls dim and dirty from disuse.

Not that there was much left in the actual prayer room these days: a few redwood benches that had been spared when the ceiling caved in, the corner suggestion box she had written one too many requests for despite Byleth’s firm reassurances. Pieces of dull brass candelabras lay scattered across cracked tile interspersed with patches of gold and vermillion foliage.

What once was a safe haven, _her_ haven, now stood as a mausoleum to millennia of lies; ancient pieties entombed by stark reality.

How could such a benevolent deity be the root of such corrosive evil?

But no, that was not quite true.

The Goddess had little hand in what her children had wrought in her name, self-proclaimed martyrs desperate to avenge their ethereal mother trapped in eternal slumber.

She could not fault the Goddess’s children for wanting their mother returned anymore than she could fault her friends for seeking their own ideals. Both paths had been paved in bloodshed and for that she quietly despaired at the numerous lost souls consumed by violence, praying they found peace beyond the earthly borders of Fódlan in Her arms.

Carefully stepping over jagged rubble, Marianne made her way forward doing her best not to further disturb the precarious piles, lest an avalanche of stone and marble test her evasiveness. Visibility gradually increased as she made her way towards the central pile of ceiling that now stood as an altar, sunlight pouring in through the gaping hole in the roof. 

“An unorthodox skylight,” Marianne murmured, ingrained habits hard to break for all that Garreg Mach stood abandoned. Even thieves and squatters had deserted the once mighty church, reluctant to sleep amongst evils long since buried. 

She laughed quietly.

And what a wonder? Her past self could not have even contemplated telling a simple joke, let alone to another person or in a place of worship. Ghostly tendrils of anxiety momentarily suffused her body, a half-remembered feeling so foreign these days. She had been so afraid then, jumping at her own shadow and worn to the bone from a state of never-ending terror that everyone would take a single look at her and _know_ the evil that ran through her veins. Better to deliver herself to the Goddess of her own volition than to suffer a lifetime of misery at the hands of her ancestor’s follies.

Never had she been so grateful to be dissuaded from her own consuming belief. 

The faint chirp of birds broke her reverie. Glancing up, Marianne squinted against the harsh light, lifting a leather gloved hand to shade her eyes. Perched along the rim of the ragged hole were a flock of young sparrows, some chirping playfully while others preened themselves or slumbered under the sun’s warm rays. Just below them, occupying at least half of the entire back wall, the stained glass portrait of the Goddess glowed in soft shades of emerald, violet, and peach, arms outstretched in welcome.

“Quite a sight, is it not? Even as a tomb of the damned this cathedral can still steal one’s breath away,” a soft yet sure voice floated on autumn winds.

“Indeed,” Marianne replied, gaze still fixed on the Goddess’s jeweled visage.

The stomp of sturdy boots echoed through the empty hall, pebbles skidding off into the ether as the steps drew even with her.

“I thought I would find you here,” Edelgard said, silver locks draping free over her lightly armored shoulders, headpiece and guard detail distinctly absent, “If you were not at the stables grooming Dorte or feeding the wild felines roaming the grounds, you were here. Seeking solace.”

Marianne smiled softly. “I have since come to learn finding solace in others can be as rewarding as seeking the wisdom of a deity.”

“Or furry friends.”

“Or furry friends,” Marianne echoed, laughter coloring her voice.

Violet eyes glanced to the azure haired woman still contemplating the desecrated place of worship.

“Does your faith remain intact?” Edelgard bluntly asked.

Marianne blinked, body swaying to lean slightly against the armored ruler. “Yes.”

Edelgard pressed infinitesimally closer.

“But not in the manner I believe you are inquiring,” Marianne finally turned to the woman at her side, umber eyes lit with earnest resolve, “It was not by Sothis’s hand that events unfolded as they did, her children and their followers perverted her name for their own crusade of vengeance. Though the church attempted to bring peace to the land through Her teachings, it was through violent means for an ultimate goal outside of Her will. Much like yourself.”

Edelgard frowned, mouth opening to object.

Marianne quickly continued. “While I prayed for the shadows consuming my soul to be cleansed through Her deliverance, you sought to vanquish the shadows consuming Fódlan much as Seiros did. But you did not lie about your intentions,” a smile crossed her lips and a faint tinge of pink bloomed across Edelgard’s cheeks, Marianne’s smile stretching wider in response, “or I suppose your ultimate goal. While your tactics of power through force were quite similar... you also taught me something the Goddess and the Church with all of its lessons could not.” 

Marianne shifted to face Edelgard head on, mirrored by the young ruler.

“I learned,” Marianne started hushed, gaining strength with every word, “I learned how to stand in the sun outside of my ancestor’s shadow, outside of the Goddess’s, outside of even my own internal darkness. I learned the Goddess saves us by giving us the courage to save ourselves. I learned that saving our own self can be the ultimate blessing for it allows us to save others in turn. And...” she trailed off, swallowing heavily.

Edelgard reached for the hand not wrapped around Blutgang’s hilt, gently grasping the gloved hand. She gave a firm squeeze. “And?”

Marianne inhaled sharply, “And I learned what it means to believe in myself through the support of others and how to support them in kind,” she finished, eyes wide, heart beating frantically in her breast.

Silence descended in the wake of her statement, gazes locked, hands clasped tight. Even the sparrows were silent vigils in their roost.

A miniscule smile cracked Edelgard’s composure, small but so breathtakingly _real_ it had Marianne’s breath catching. “I think that is the most I have ever heard you say in our entire acquaintance. Possibly in all your years.”  
Vivid crimson rapidly stained Marianne’s cheeks. How did one reply to such a statement? “I think, I mean, I—” she stammered.

Edelgard chuckled, “I apologize my friend, I did not mean to embarrass you.”

“N–No, I think you are correct.”

“Still, I do not mean to cause you any harm, regardless of the validity of my words.”

Before Marianne could reply, faint shouting reached her ears from outside.

Edelgard grimaced. “It appears the guards have finally noticed my absence. Perhaps we need yet another training lesson on tracking...”

It was Marianne’s turn to laugh this time. “Perhaps you simply have more skill in evading unwanted retainers after a lifetime as a noble.”

“Perhaps,” Edelgard smirked, “Shall we depart? The excavators have surely finished their duties for the day. We can scout more tomorrow.”

Marianne glanced at the stained glass Goddess once more before following the tug of their joined hands out into the sunset beyond. “I think I have seen all I need to.”


End file.
